Numerous prior art cabinets are known for warming food. These types of cabinets are especially useful in the catering business, hotels and restaurants, especially fast-food restaurants. The basic purpose of such cabinets is to maintain already cooked food at an elevated temperature so that upon serving they are not too cold to eat.
Many of these prior art devices utilize steam to keep the food warm; however, these devices require expensive seals to keep the humid hot air inside the cabinet. Many of these prior art devices also utilize complicated baffles and air flow channels to maintain the food at an elevated temperature, making the cabinet construction very expensive. Moreover, many of the prior art devices require substantial energy and are therefore costly to run.
A further drawback of the prior art devices is that the food tends to loose its piquancy after 45 minutes and must be discarded after one and one-half hours due to exposure to the humid hot air utilized in the devices.
Such prior art cabinets are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,205,033, issued to Stentz on Sept. 7, 1965; 3,222,114, issued to Stentz on Dec. 7, 1965; 3,895,215, issued to Gordon on July 15, 1975; and 4,030,476, issued to Hock on June 21, 1977.